A 51-year-old man was denied murder following the death of Neil Parkinson whose body was found in a burnt out car.

Mark Chilman appeared at Worcester Crown Court yesterday where he pleaded not guilty to murder and stalking following the death of the 66-year-old. Mr Parkinson from Clifton-Upon-Teme was found in the vehicle in Ankerdine Road, Cotheridge on December 12 last year.

The hearing, scheduled to take place at 3.30pm, was briefly delayed as Chilman's barrister was in another court. Once the advocate had arrived, Chilman, 51, from the Old Post Office, Pencombe, Bromyard, was formally arraigned by the clerk, entering not guilty to both counts on the indictment.

The second count he denied is stalking involving serious alarm and distress. The charge states that Chilman pursued a course of conduct that amounted to the stalking of Juliet Adcock and caused serious alarm or distress to her and had 'a substantial adverse effect on her day to day activities'. The charge states that this involved Chilman sending her 'numerous messages threatening suicide if she refused to resume a relationship' and that he carried out 'observations of her activities and property'. This is alleged to have taken place between June 1 and December 12 last year.

Mr Parkinson was pronounced dead at the scene in a layby in the village on the A44 between Bromyard and Worcester. He was found dead in a burnt out BMW.

In a previous statement, Detective Chief Inspector Mark Peters said: “This is clearly a very serious and tragic incident that has seen a man lose his life and our thoughts are very much with his family and friends at this sad time.”

At the time police also asked residents for any dashcam or CCTV footage of a black BMW X5 travelling between Stoney Lane in Broadwas to Ankerdine Road between 5pm and midnight on Saturday, December 12. The case was prosecuted by Andrew Wallace. Chilman was represented by Jason Aris.

The defendant appeared in the dock with two dock officers. Judge James Burbidge QC set the trial down for August 2. It is expected to last three weeks.

The rest of the hearing was devoted to laying out stage dates including when the defendant must submit a defence statement. This must be provided by March 29.

Judge Burbidge remanded Chilman in custody until the next hearing.